


College life

by ssol00



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-02
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-03 02:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1727459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssol00/pseuds/ssol00
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He supposed most people would have liked to have a hot roommate, but Haruka was not most people.</p><p>How annoying.</p><p>- On hiatus at the moment -</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

College. It's overrated. Haruka hadn't even planned on going; he was fine with a high school diploma. In his opinion, time away from the pool was time wasted. Why did a swimming instructor even need a college education? It wasn't as if he was trying to get a competitive position in Tokyo - no, he was completely satisfied teaching kids in his sleepy hometown, an extension of his summer job throughout high school. If anything, he was probably over-qualified. His numerous swimming trophies had started to clutter the house which was why he surreptitiously threw them out one night, only to have them retrieved by Makoto.

It was partly Makoto's fault this was all happening. He was the one who convinced Haruka's parents that college would do him good. And if not, well, at least it would be a change of environment. Makoto knew that Haruka had never stepped a foot out of town, not even for vacation. Haruka argued it was because he never had to, never wanted to - but that line of conversation had been cut short by both Makoto and his parents. ("You need to see the world, Haru-chan!", "Drop the chan.")

Haruka's parents had given him free rein throughout his teens, letting him do pretty much what he pleased. In fact, they were hardly ever home, usually at some foreign country or wherever their busy jobs took them. If Haruka had been a normal kid he might have felt neglected, but in truth he had been thankful. He loved his parents, but he had always been a solitary person. He was more at peace hearing ocean waves crash against the shore than people prattling on about their lives. Yes, his parents had been very good to him. Still, when it came to college, they had put their feet down.

"We want to make sure you won't regret it later. Please, Haruka. You can do whatever you want after you graduate."

And that was why Haruka had ended up here, miles away from home, no beach in sight. Makoto appeased him with the fact that the school had an excellent pool which was free of charge for all of its students. Upon hearing that Haruka had promptly relocated himself into the dorm rooms closest to the natatorium. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought his actions through and it was just yesterday he remembered that he had forgotten to tell Makoto, whom he had been planning to room with.

Makoto hadn't exactly yelled at him. He was too gentle to get angry at Haruka. He did however, start to look nervous and wring his hands over and over. Haruka switching dorms meant that they wouldn't be roommates. Makoto was already getting headaches imagining what would happen to Haruka's roommate. Haruka was quiet, clean and easy to live with, but...

Makoto hoped Haruka's new roommate would be okay with the constant smell of fried mackerel, or ridiculous bathroom schedules. Would they mind getting an eyeful of Haru standing in his swimsuit (with an apron tied over his front, no less) first thing in the morning? Makoto hoped not.

 

\---

 

Haruka stared warily at the boy in front of him. His new roommate. Tall, but not lanky. Sharp eyes and even sharper teeth. He looked intimidating, if Haruka were the type to get intimidated. (He wasn't.) He could tell that the boy was getting nervous, though. It showed in the way he furrowed his eyebrows and set his mouth into a scowl, the way he twisted a lock of hair behind his ear. He had unusual hair, that was for sure - it wasn't exactly pink, but not really red, either. Kind of purple actually, like wine. Haruka would have said it was dyed, but oddly enough it looked too natural to be fake. Huh.

"Are you going to tell me your name, or are you just going to stare at me?" His roommate all but snarled at him, but Haruka was not to be fazed.

"Nanase Haruka. _Don't_ call me Haruka. You are...?"

And that marked the first of their many fights.

"You asshole! I just said I was Rin! Matsuoka Rin! Jesus, you weren't even listening, were you?"

Haruka could already feel a migraine begin to develop at the side of his head. Luckily, that was all he saw of Rin that day. Haruka spend most of the afternoon at the pool and when he came back, Rin was gone. He had left a short note on the counter that he was picking up some things for the room, along with his cell phone number. Haruka wondered why Rin had bothered. Just because they were living together didn't mean they would see much of each other. Haruka planned to spend all of his extra time at the pool. He didn't need new friends - Makoto was more than enough. Yet, vaguely mystified, Haruka dug out his cell phone and added Rin's number. He guessed it might come in handy someday, maybe when he was locked out of the room or something.

Much to his annoyance, Haruka had trouble falling asleep that night. It wasn't because Rin was staying out late - he was free to do whatever he wanted, maybe he was crashing at a friend's place - no, it was probably because it finally hit him that he was truly away from home. The room was hot, stifling really. Haruka could stand the heat better than most, but this was ridiculous. He tossed the covers off his bed, pulled off his shirt and stared at the ceiling willing himself to sleep. He wondered how Makoto was doing and remembered that Makoto had brought with him a portable air conditioner. An air conditioner Haruka would have been able to use if he had just roomed with Makoto, like he was supposed to. Damn.

Sleep did come, though. At one point he woke up in the middle of the night, blearily looking at the clock on his nightstand and realized that the air was much cooler than a few hours ago. He had somehow managed to pick up his blanket off the ground and wrap himself around it, too. He thought he heard some shuffling coming from the corner of his room, along with some soft breathy noises, but Haruka was too tired to care.

He drifted off, and the last thing he remembered was a boy with flashing red eyes sneaking into his dreams.

_Rin. Matsuoka Rin._

 

 

"Erm. Haru-chan?"

Haruka swung his arm over his face to block the sunlight. His eyes slowly opened and he realized three things. One, Makoto had somehow managed to break into his room. Two, his roommate ( _Rin, Matsuoka Rin_ ) was, for some reason, fast asleep on his floor, next to a whirring portable air conditioner that definitely did _not_ belong to Haruka. Three, he was achingly hard. Not morning wood hard, but what-the-hell-was-I-dreaming-of-I-need-to-jerk-it-off- **now** hard.

Makoto was bright red, trying to look everywhere but at Haruka's pants. Haruka let out a disgruntled huff.

"Makoto. I need to go to the bathroom. Stay here."

And with that, he resolutely crossed the room and shut himself in the bathroom.

 

 

When he came back (freshly whacked and showered) Rin was still asleep, and Makoto was looking at him in fascination. Haruka guessed it was the teeth that caught Makoto's attention. Or the strange shock of red hair strewn around the carpet.

"You weren't picking up your phone, so I came over. Someone let me in the building, and your room wasn't locked." Makoto said, by way of explanation.

Haruka nodded. He guessed something like that had happened. He never checked his phone as much as he should and Makoto often got worried.

"Is this your roommate?"

"Yes."

 _And don't ask me why he's here because I have no idea why, either._ Haruka didn't feel like talking much and he hoped Makoto got the picture. He usually did.

"He's really cute."

Haruka blinked.

Annoying. Loud. Angry. As far as first impressions went, that was what Haruka thought of Rin, if anything at all. He had barely seen the guy for a few minutes, and here he was, asleep on his floor hugging Haruka's backpack and rubbing his face against the carpet.

Haruka scrutinized Rin's face. It was easier to tell now, without his expression changing every second from embarrassed to irritated. Heart-shaped face, long eyelashes, full lips - all attached to a very, very trim body. He supposed most people would have liked to have a hot roommate, but Haruka was not most people.

How annoying.

Haruka hoped Rin already had a steady girlfriend or boyfriend because he was not going to deal with people hanging around in hopes of scoring with Rin. (He had enough of that with Makoto, to the point where he pretended to be Makoto's boyfriend during high school just to get some peace.)

College life was already getting troublesome, and it hadn't even started yet. Not really. Haruka blamed Makoto for half of it and his annoyingly hot roommate who was probably going to get carpet burns on his face for the other half. Though a nagging part of his mind reminded him, yes, it _had_ been nice of Rin to get an air conditioner. And share it. That was probably why he sneaked into Haruka's room, why he was huddled against Haruka's backpack with bags under his eyes.

Haruka sighed. He supposed he could make enough mackerel for breakfast, for all of them. Just this once.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What happened anyway? I've never heard of anyone wanting in someone's pants because of an air conditioner."
> 
> "Honestly, I have no idea." Rin sighed. In retrospect, he thought glumly, it was probably (at least partly) his fault.

Makoto reached out and gingerly removed a fillet of mackerel from Rin's hair. He winced as it crumbled, leaving little bits of fish stuck to Rin's forehead. He would have picked off those pieces too, but he was afraid of doing more damage than good. He looked around for a napkin, a dishrag - something Rin could use to wipe the soy sauce off his face, but Haruka hadn't fully unpacked yet. The only thing Makoto could think of was the apron Haruka was wearing and he didn't think Rin would want to use that.

Needless to say, breakfast had been a disaster.

Haruka watched his roommate turn two shades of pink until finally settling into a deep, vibrant red. Maybe he should apologize? But, what for? For cooking the mackerel? It really wasn't his fault that Rin had somehow managed to send the platter flying, wasting perfectly good mackerel, too. Haruka briefly wondered if it would be inappropriate to eat the mackerel Makoto fished out of Rin's hair. It was probably better than the ones on the floor.

Makoto was giving Haruka a reproachful look which made Haruka uncomfortable. He didn't understand. What did he do wrong?

Rin sputtered, the first sound he let out after the mackerel had landed wetly on his head. He hissed out with clenched teeth, "No, Haruka I do not have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. And I am not interested in you or your boyfriend, separately or together, or whatever the hell you're implying."

Haruka twitched. " _Don't_ call me Haruka."

Even Haruka knew that was the wrong thing to say, but it came out of his mouth by reflex. Rin let out an exasperated sigh and muttered that he needed some air. He left the room before Makoto could stop him, slamming the door, with pieces of fish still clinging to his bangs. For Rin's sake, Makoto hoped that he had someplace to go and that he wouldn't run into anyone on the way.

What a pity. He actually seemed like a nice guy - a little prickly, but actually pretty caring once you got past the rough edges. Now however, Rin supposedly thought Makoto was Haruka's boyfriend and judging from what he had just said, a creeper trying to get into his pants. Sometimes Makoto didn't understand how Haruka could make things so complicated with such few words.

To his credit though, Haruka actually looked crestfallen. Makoto patted his shoulder and said, "Haru-chan, I don't think Rin understood what you were trying to say." _I'm not sure I did either._

Haruka didn't reply, not even with a reflexive 'drop the chan' and Makoto knew it was time for some serious damage control. It amused him to some degree that both Haruka and Rin seemed to be trying _really_ hard to be friends, but for some reason they were failing miserably.

Makoto picked up the remainder of mackerel off the floor and tossed them into the trash can before Haruka got any ideas about whether they were salvageable or not. Then he started to assess where the conversation had gone wrong . For once, Haruka seemed to be listening intently, hanging onto every word.

 

\---

 

"My roommate wants me to have a threesome with his boyfriend."

Sousuke took one look at Rin, taking in the disheveled clothes, wild hair _(what were those white pieces stuck to his forehead? And why did the room suddenly smell like soy sauce?)_ and bright, red face. Not missing a beat, he tossed Rin a towel and a spare shirt motioning towards the bathroom. Then, he went back to his book. It was a good one, about swimming rehabilitation for athletes recovering from serious injuries. From the corner of his eye he could see Rin grumble and trudge towards the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Rin emerged with clouds of steam puffing out from his hair. Sousuke's shirt was too big and was hanging off his collarbone, but Sousuke didn't mind the view. He and Rin were strictly friends, but there was no denying that Rin was, to put it blandly, a looker.

Sousuke had spent most of his life warding off unwanted attention from his childhood friend until Rin developed muscles, an attitude, and insanely sharp teeth during high school. Precious few were thickheaded enough to try to hit on Rin these days, but then again, you could never tell with college kids. Sousuke wondered if that meant Rin would go back to wearing all black. He hoped not. It didn't do well with social gatherings and he always had to explain to people that, no, Rin was not attending a funeral, and yes, he did know that he looked like some sort of hipster-burglar.

"A threesome, huh? Didn't you say yesterday that your roommate hated you?" Sousuke deadpanned. Rin had the tendency to be a drama queen sometimes.

What he got in return was a withering glare and a smart kick to the ass - which was a mistake of course. Rin was no wimp, but Sousuke was built like a brick shithouse, solid and hard all over. Rin winced as his pinky toe gave a loud crack and fell down in a heap next to Sousuke, swearing under his breath.

"Don't kick me, Rin-rin. You'll hurt yourself."

"Cocky bastard. How is it that even your ass is hard?"

Sousuke often wondered if Rin was trying to flirt, or was just really clueless about dropping sexual innuendos. It caught a lot of people by surprise, but once you got used to it, it was strangely endearing. He flashed a grin at Rin.

"I think most people would agree that from the two of us, it's you who's clearly the hard-ass."

"Fuck you."

"My pleasure."

And like that, they fell into an easy rhythm that was natural for them. Sousuke knew that most of their friends wondered why he and Rin didn't get together, since clearly, he was the only one Rin felt comfortable enough around to lower his defenses, but neither of them had a clear-cut answer. They had fooled around for one brief moment in high school, but it never turned into anything serious. Sousuke guessed it was partly because they liked pissing each other off so much.

Rin grimaced as he rubbed his foot.

"Yo, if my toe's broken, I'm staying with you tonight?"

Sousuke pretended to give this some thought. "I offered to let you sleep over yesterday. You snubbed my hospitality by ditching me half past two, _which_ by the way, I know because you stepped on my arm on your way out."

At least Rin had the grace to look sheepish.

Sousuke didn't understand why Rin chose to make life so complicated. He had been stressed out yesterday, groaning how he had made the worst impression on his asshole roommate. In Sousuke's opinion, if said roommate really was an asshole, it shouldn't matter whether you made a bad impression or not, but Rin was unhealthily sensitive like that. He would beat himself over the smallest details until Sousuke gave a good smack and pushed him out of his misery. All throughout yesterday it had been my roommate this-, my roommate that- and Sousuke did not really need to know that Nanase Haruka had eyes that were 'really, really blue - not greenish like yours, but a solid blue.'

Rin had also noticed that the guy hadn't brought much stuff for their room and dragged Sousuke out on an impromptu shopping spree (making Sousuke carry that freaking heavy air conditioner). Sousuke had nothing against Nanase Haruka, but he did feel somewhat used when Rin sneaked out the middle of the night to make sure Haruka wasn't suffocating from the heat.

"Good thing I did. The guy was practically dying when I got back." Rin tried to act nonchalant, but Sousuke knew him better than to fall for that.

Either you liked a person or you didn't. Except Rin had a hard time admitting the former, so Sousuke guessed that despite appearances, Rin actually liked Haruka and really, really wanted to be friends. (Either that, or he wanted to bang the dude.) Too bad he was socially awkward, but that was the whole reason both of them had decided not to room together. Rin needed to get out of his shell. Both Sousuke and Rin's therapist agreed that Rin needed the change. Sousuke couldn't smooth out the wrinkles in his life forever.

"What happened anyway? I've never heard of anyone wanting in someone's pants because of an air conditioner."

"Honestly, I have no idea." Rin sighed. In retrospect, he thought glumly, it was probably (at least partly) his fault.

 

 

He had overslept, woken up with the imprint of a backpack against his arm and his cheek tingling from rubbing against the carpet. And then he had a miniature panic attack because he was being watched by a stranger with wide green eyes.

"What the fuck?!" Rin scrambled against the wall looking for something to ward off the intruder. The only thing he could find was a small dolphin figurine and he brandished it in front of him, keeping distance from the stranger who frankly, looked about as terrified as Rin felt. _Oh no, what if he had gotten it the other way around? What if it was Rin who had broken into some random guy's room? How was he going to explain..._

"You're awake."

Haruka's cool voice cut through the air and Rin looked up, relieved to see that yes, he was in the right room. Once he saw Haruka though, he did a double take. _Was that an apron? Over a swimsuit?_ (Not just any swimsuit, Rin noted - professional swimwear. Was Haruka a swimmer?)

Unperturbed by Rin's confused expression Haruka announced curtly that breakfast was ready, and promptly left the room leaving Rin with Green-eyes. Fortunately, Green-eyes seemed to have calmed down and gave Rin a warm, friendly smile. He gently plucked the dolphin from Rin's hand, ushered him into the kitchen and explained in a soft voice that he and Haruka came from the same hometown. He was Haruka's best friend, and yes Haruka was blunt at times, but he was really thankful for the air conditioner and wanted to make Rin breakfast in apology for being rude yesterday. Rin let the tension leave his shoulders. It was much easier understanding Haruka with Green-eyes, Tachibana Makoto, acting as an interpreter (though Haruka tersely denied every word and had refused to even look at Rin, _seriously what was his problem?)_

Haruka was a surprisingly good cook. Rin wasn't that fond of mackerel first thing in the morning, but it tasted great, kind of like what his mom used to make before she got busy with her job. He choked a little though when he saw how Haruka took hold of Makoto's plate and started to meticulously remove all the bones from the fish, stacking them in a neat pile to the side. When he shot a questioning look to Makoto, Makoto gave him an embarrassed smile and said "I have trouble with fish bones. Once I almost choked to death and Haru has been picking them out for me ever since."

Rin felt himself deflate a little. So Haruka had a boyfriend. Not that it mattered, he was cool with that, but for some strange reason he felt kind of disappointed. He had barely seen Haruka for an hour tops, but Rin had felt a strange sort of camaraderie with him. Ever since he decided not to room with Sousuke he imagined becoming really good friends with his new roommate. He knew it was lame, but he envisioned movie nights, studying together, bitching about professors together - normal friend stuff. And though, Sousuke would tease him for being a hopeless romantic, Rin had _felt something_ when he first saw Haruka. He knew innately that Haruka would _understand_ , that they would become really close.

Haruka might not be looking for a new friend, though. He already had Makoto. Rin's mind started to race - a bad habit of his - and started wondering, _would Makoto sleep over? How thin were these walls?_ (Fuck, he would not be _that person_ who threw shoes at the wall every other night, he already had trouble sleeping as it is.) _Wait, if they were boyfriends, why weren't they rooming together?_

But then again, they had to be. It was in their body language, the way Haruka seemed almost mellow in Makoto's presence. The way Makoto's eyes crinkled whenever Haruka muttered something under his breath.

"Rin."

Rin looked up to see Haruka staring intently at him.

"Do you like it?"

It took Rin a while to understand that Haruka was talking about the food. He shrugged and replied, "I don't really go for fish first thing in the morning," he saw Haruka furrow his brow, "but are you kidding? This is fucking fantastic. It tastes like my mom's cooking."

Makoto chuckled, "Haru-chan's been cooking for himself since middle school."

"Drop the chan."

"Ah, sorry."

Rin let himself relax. He was probably over thinking everything, as usual. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Haruka give him a small smile (though it could have been because Makoto added another fillet to his plate.) It felt kind of stupid, but he was sort of proud of himself in a way. He was doing okay, socializing with total strangers, without Sousuke acting as middleman.

Makoto turned out to be a great guy as well; he made Rin feel at ease and whenever the conversation died down, he saved them all from awkwardness by offering information about himself, his family, his twin siblings. When Makoto mentioned that their names were Ren and Ran - similar to Rin - Rin grinned and punched Makoto's shoulder.

"What do you know, we're practically family. I knew you felt familiar the moment I saw you."

"Rin, you tried to attack me with Haru's dolphin toy."

"Shut up, Makoto."

Everything was going great - And then Haruka, who had been watching them with solemn eyes bluntly intercepted the conversation.

"Rin, do you like Makoto? Do you have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?"

Rin froze. _What the hell?_

Was Haruka trying to tell him to back off from his boyfriend? Rin was just trying to be friendly. But... maybe Haruka was the jealous type? You really couldn't tell from looking at him, he had been wearing the same expression all morning. Had Rin been too friendly with Makoto? Maybe he shouldn't have touched him, but Rin had a bad habit of punching Sousuke's arm while talking - it had happened before he could stop himself. Just when he thought everything was going okay. Was Haruka angry? Did he think Rin was an asshole? What if...

"You should get one you know. A girlfriend. Or a boyfriend."

"Wha, What... I don't get what you're saying?" Rin stammered.

"You seem to like Makoto. What about Makoto?" Haruka looked thoughtful. "It would be really convenient for me if you and Makoto got together. He's been my boyfriend for so long, he probably wants a change..."

 

 

"So I got really flustered, banged the table with my fist and..."

"...Ended up with fish in your hair. I get it, now."

Initially, Sousuke thought Rin had been exaggerating, but it actually sounded as bad as Rin first made it out to be. Trust Rin to end up with a weirdo who offered to share his boyfriend with a random person he had barely met. He scratched his head.

"You know, if it's really that bad you can move in with me. We agreed you needed this, but you could take it slow, you know? You don't need extra stress in your life, Rin."

He really didn't.

Sousuke watched Rin purse his lips and tug at the strands of hair closest to his ear. It was a nervous habit he picked up during high school, after that incident. It had taken months for Sousuke to convince Rin he needed help and Sousuke wasn't about to see his efforts go down the drain because of some douche who had boundary issues. Rin needed to relax. He needed to get out more, to stop worrying about himself, to stop doubting himself.

He saw Rin waver, probably tempted to take his offer, but Sousuke could already tell from the hard look in his eyes that Rin had decided to tough it out. And Sousuke had to smile at that. If anything, Rin was a fighter. Not necessarily strong, but stubborn. He was just about to tousle Rin's hair when a loud buzzing noise came from Rin's pocket.

Rin pulled out his phone and looked confusedly at the screen. He didn't know anyone with that number. Unless it was... Oh, it was.

 

**From: Unknown sender**

Rin, it's Nanase. We need to talk.

 

Rin felt his stomach flip. He saved the number as Nanase don't-call-me-Haruka. He saw Sousuke shoot him a questioning look and he shook his head in response. He had to take care of this himself. God, he hated awkward situations. He could only hope that this time, he wouldn't end up with fish in his hair.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin slowly turned his head and looked at him with wide eyes. They were suspiciously bright, but unguarded and clear. Haruka waited, but Rin just continued to stare at him, as if this was the first time he was properly seeing Haruka.

Rin wondered if he should have changed before heading out to meet Haruka. Sousuke's old shirt was huge and it kept slipping off as he ran towards the coffee shop where they had agreed to meet. Sousuke was big, but this was ridiculous - that fucker probably handed him a shirt that was loose on himself as well. Rin hoped he didn't stand out too much - a lot of the people he had passed by had given him odd looks and it was starting to get on his nerves. Rin briefly contemplated stuffing the ends of the shirt into his pants to hide the fact that it was so long, but quickly gave up as he realized that there was so much extra material that it would make his crotch look baggy. Rin snorted. Sousuke would probably get a kick out of that.

He paused a moment and looked down at the shirt. The edges were frayed from use, but it was clean with no wrinkles. Sousuke always took good care of his things and never threw out anything if he could help it. He treated his friends the same way and for that Rin was grateful, although he would never be able to tell him face to face.

Even though they had been friends for years, Rin often questioned what Sousuke got out of their friendship. One awkward time in high school Rin had tried to make it into something more so he wouldn't feel so guilty about always being on the receiving end, but that had gone rather horribly. Rin cringed. Sousuke had reassured him that it didn't mean anything, but the whole thing had been as confusing as fuck.

Looking back, Rin could see why it hadn't worked out. Sousuke was great, and Rin needed him, but it hadn't been enough. Rin didn't want to need someone. He wanted someone to need **him**.  Unfortunately, he didn't see that happening anytime soon. _Why the fuck would anyone need me?_

Rin forced himself to think of other things. He was bad at this, stopping himself before he fell into a downward spiral, but at least he was getting better at recognizing when it was happening. It was part of the mental training exercises his therapist had urged him to try out.

_Get a grip. You went from thinking about how stupid this shirt looks to drowning in self-pity. Remember why you're out in this fucking shirt in the first place._

And with that he started to jog across campus. _Better get this over with._

 

 

_Damn shirt._

Haruka tugged at his collar and loosened the first button. Makoto had wanted him to change into something nice, but it was starting to feel stuffy.

Haruka didn't care about clothes as long as they were comfortable and easy to remove, but he guessed what he had on was slightly dressier than usual. It had been a birthday present from his parents a few years back, but Haruka never bothered to wear it because it had too many buttons (which was always a bad thing in Haruka's opinion - too troublesome.) At any rate, it was freshly ironed. Makoto had tried to do it himself and burned his finger in the process. Haruka would have left it at that, but then Makoto had been so determined to finish the job that Haruka ended up snatching the iron from his hands and doing it himself before Makoto could hurt himself further.

He remembered Makoto's reasoning for the fancy clothes. "It shows that you've gone through a lot of trouble to make a good impression. Rin is sensitive. Trust me, he'll know as soon as he looks at you."

Haruka felt somewhat perturbed that Makoto already knew so much about Rin even though he had just met Rin this morning and had one brief conversation with him. _At least he's had a conversation._ A nagging part of his mind reminded Haruka. Haruka sighed.

He glanced at the clock hanging off the wall of the coffee shop. He had agreed to meet Rin here (again, at Makoto's suggestion). He didn't understand the whole point of this - the clothes, the location, the carefully thought out apology. In Haruka's opinion, it would be a lot simpler if Makoto explained everything, like he usually did when Haruka screwed something up. Ah well. He guessed that was why he had gotten into this mess in the first place, because he had been looking for an easy way out.

Haruka remembered the look on Rin's face when Haruka asked him if he liked Makoto. Most people did, so it was no surprise that Rin would like him as well. What _had_ been surprising though, was the look on Rin's face when he was talking to Makoto. It was as if he were a completely different person. Haruka didn't know Rin could look like _that_ \- happy and carefree. It suited Rin. Much better than the tight, uneasy expression Haruka had come to associate with him.

Haruka had never been jealous of how easily Makoto opened up to people, but when he saw how it affected Rin, Haruka realized for the first time what a great gift it was.

The door of the coffee shop opened and a few heads turned to see the flash of red that passed them. Once they saw who had entered, a lot of those people looked back for a second glance. And a third. Some girls sitting near the window seat widened their eyes and sat up straighter. Even the guy behind the counter gave an appreciative glance. Haruka pursed his lips. This was even worse than the attention Makoto attracted. _This_ was exactly why he had brought up the whole boyfriend thing in the first place.

Rin was wearing a worn, oversized shirt that dipped below his collarbone and the same workout pants he had been wearing when he left, but it did nothing to set off the glow he seemed to be emitting. The sunlight hit his hair and made it shine a bright, ruby red. He looked like he had been running; his normally pale skin was flushed pink and it almost hurt Haruka's eyes to look at him.

_Too much._

Haruka reminded himself that this was the same boy who had managed to knock a platter of mackerel into his hair. It made him feel slightly better. He gave a cough and upon seeing Haruka, Rin raised his hand in a stiff greeting.

"Hey."

"Sit."

And then, just like that, gone was the self-collected, almost magnetic figure who had entered the coffee shop; in its place was the Rin Haruka was more familiar with, the one with the darting eyes, distinctively uncomfortable posture and uneasy fingers tugging at a lock of hair. Although he didn't look it, Haruka felt nervous, too. Rin looked as if he'd rather be any place in the world than here. _What now?_

Haruka set his eyes carefully on Rin and watched him fidget in his seat. In his mind, he methodically went over what he and Makoto had talked over throughout the morning and prepared what he had to say.

 

 

"Why did you ask Rin to go out with me, Haru?" Makoto had ventured.

"Because. He attracts people. It's annoying."

At Makoto's blank stare Haruka had sighed and elaborated, "Like high school. People always came over and pestered us when we were hanging out."

Haruka remembered that Makoto had finally nodded in understanding. Then, with a gentle smile he explained why he thought Rin had gotten angry. Haruka didn't really understand why Rin had been so offended, but he reluctantly agreed that maybe he had been too blunt - after all, even Makoto had seemed confused until just now.

Then, Makoto's soft smile had turned slightly mischievous. "You know Haru, it shouldn't really matter if Rin attracts people or not. I thought you said you didn't need any new friends. Did you change your mind? I guess you're planning on hanging out with Rin after all."

 

 

He **hadn't** planned on doing anything of the sort. But it had happened. And here he was in a stiff, freshly ironed shirt trying to think of a good way to say "I'm sorry" when he still wasn't sure what he was sorry for. _Sorry you don't want to go out with Makoto?_

Haruka's thoughts were interrupted when Rin leaned forward and clapped his hands in front of his face.

"Hey. Are you listening? You have a bad habit of spacing out, you know?" Haruka half expected Rin to get angry, like he did when they first met, but instead he drummed his fingers against the table and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. There was a pregnant pause as Haruka stared at the way the lock of hair curled around Rin's ear just so, in a perfect curve. Instinctively, he reached out to touch it and raised an eyebrow when Rin made a low garbled noise from the back of his throat and skirted away to the end of the table.

"Look Nanase." Rin's hands were balled into fists and Haruka quickly scanned his eyes over the table, making sure nothing dangerous would go flying into the air should Rin bang his hands against the surface. "I don't have anything against kinks. Threesomes are fine. Whatever floats your boat. But, like I said before, I'm not interested."

_Come again?_

Haruka went still, trying to process what Rin was saying.

Rin was getting more and more flustered as he went on, "I mean, sure, Makoto seems like a great guy. He's really sweet. I'm happy you trust him enough to offer him around, but... it's just not my kind of thing? Not that I have anything against threesomes. You and Makoto are free to do whatever you want." As if to emphasize his point, Rin nodded vehemently.

Then, he stopped suddenly, as if something dawned on him. "But... but wait, are you and Makoto planning on...? "

Haruka watched on as Rin turned steadily pink. He mumbled something under his breath and started to talk faster. "Fuck, how does this even work?  I guess it's okay if you keep it in your room, but we need to work out a system. So I know when I should go crash at my friend's. I'm a light sleeper, you know." At Haruka's blank stare Rin squirmed in his seat and muttered, " But, like I said - I'm cool with whatever... arrangement you have with Makoto. As long as you guys don't include me."

Haruka couldn't stand it anymore; he ducked his head. Rin looked miserable and Haruka felt - strange. Like he wanted to laugh. At least that's what he thought the odd feeling bubbling in his chest was. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way. Even when he was at his happiest, Haruka rarely smiled.

The situation was ridiculous. _Rin_ was ridiculous, the way he was stumbling his way through the conversation, spouting nonsense. (Makoto had guessed correctly that Rin misunderstood Haruka, but the way this was turning out, it seemed Rin had one hell of an imagination.) Haruka was not great with people, but he wasn't stupid. Something clicked in his head and he recognized something familiar in Rin. Despite the polished good looks and sharp attitude, Rin was as bad at this as he was. _Maybe even worse._

"So, what do you think Nanase? Do we have a deal?"

Haruka's lips quivered slightly.

"No."

It was somewhat gratifying to see Rin widen his eyes and let out an indignant squeak.

"Wha, what do you mean no?! I just offered to get out of the room whenever you're shacking up with Makoto and god knows who else. Is it really that hard to give me some sort of warning beforehand?!"

Haruka _might_ have let out a small smile at that. It slipped out before he could catch it.

"Rin. I don't shack up with Makoto. He's not my boyfriend."

He could see Rin freeze in confusion. At least this part was familiar territory. Haruka was used to having people believe that Makoto was his boyfriend.

"Bu, but you called him your boyfriend. You were picking out fish bones from his plate. You were doing some weird shirtless apron thing for him?"

Haruka could feel that strange sensation well up in his chest again. He coughed a little to suppress it and commented drily, "Yes I was picking fish bones out for him. Makoto told you why. He chokes on them and he's horrible at picking them out himself. And a lot of people wear aprons while cooking. I had a swimsuit on because I was planning on going to the pool."

Rin was starting to look horrified, but Haruka went on, "I called Makoto my boyfriend because he pretended to be my boyfriend during high school. It slipped out of my mouth. Like you said. Makoto is 'really sweet.' It got annoying when people kept trying to hit on him."

Haruka looked interestedly at Rin. His expression had changed several times during the short time span from confusion, gradual understanding to complete mortification. Rin let out a dejected groan and started pulling at his hair. Haruka didn't get what the big deal was, but it seemed Rin thought differently.

"Shit. I mean, ugh. Crap. This is so screwed up."

"Sorry."

This was not the way Makoto had told him to apologize per se, but hopefully Rin would get the general idea.

"I'm such a fucking idiot!"

_Or not._

"Rin. I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you sorry for? I'm the one who screwed everything up! Jesus, fucking embarrassing. I'm so bad at this. I hate talking to people, I never get it right. I mean..." Rin made a choked sound and stopped mid-sentence.

Haruka looked at Rin. He looked scared, like he had said something wrong. His hands were trembling and he was edging off his seat, like he wanted to run away. Come to think of it, in the span of a day, Rin had run off from him twice already. It seemed like Haruka made him so uncomfortable that he couldn't stand staying in the same place as him. Unfortunately, Haruka didn't know how to fix this, so he went on with the rest of his apology, hoping for the best.

"Sorry for surprising you this morning. I..."

Haruka hesitated. He had never admitted this to anyone before and it felt awkward. He clenched his fists and cleared his throat.

"I'm not good with people. I'm not good at saying what I mean to say."

That hadn't been what Makoto had advised him to say either, but it seemed to work. Rin slowly turned his head and looked at him with wide eyes. They were suspiciously bright, but unguarded and clear. Haruka waited, but Rin just continued to stare at him, as if this was the first time he was properly seeing Haruka. Never before had Haruka felt someone's undivided attention focus on him and him only. Rin's gaze was _intense_ and Haruka fidgeted in his seat and wondered if he should do something.

Finally, he held out his hand. He didn't know why - he wasn't the type to shake hands and the timing seemed a bit off as they had met each other yesterday - but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Then the corners of Rin's lips slowly turned up into a genuine smile and _oh_ , it was the same smile Haruka had seen directed at Makoto this morning. Except this time it was **Haruka** who had brought it into Rin's face. He felt his face flush for some unexpected reason.

Haruka felt Rin's fingers curl tentatively around his hand.

"Thanks, Haru. I can call you that, right?"

 

 

Rin was different, Haruka decided. They had somehow managed to have a decent conversation over lunch and although they came close to fighting (once) and dealing with long silences whenever they ran out of things to say (multiple times), it wasn't so bad. Rin told him about his family - his mother and younger sister. Haruka noticed that he didn't mention anything about his father, but he didn't pry.

At one point in the conversation Haruka felt his face heat up _again_ , which was strange because Haruka did not get flustered. Ever.

"I get the whole 'let's pretend he's my boyfriend thing,' but why did you want _me_ to go out with Makoto? Couldn't you just pretend to do it yourself, like you did in high school?"

"It would have been more convenient that way. Killing two birds with one stone."

"What the hell? You need to be more clear Haru. Use more words. Don't be so fucking vague. I don't get what you're... Wait. Oh _. Oh_."

Rin had looked slightly embarrassed, but very pleased when he blurted out, "You think I'm hot?" 

Haruka refused to grace such an idiotic question with an answer and felt thoroughly annoyed when Rin continued to poke at him with a cheeky grin plastered over his face.

It felt strange to talk to someone without having Makoto helping him out. Haruka was perfectly capable of speaking for himself, but this was something new. Most of the time when he talked to people, he would nod or shake his head and give one worded answers to their questions. After a while people either gave up or conceded that Haruka was not a talker, but a listener.

Not Rin. He had endless questions for Haruka and when his answers fell short he would look frustrated and impatiently tap his fingers against the table. It was bothersome, but all the same, Haruka ended up telling Rin all sorts of things. The sound of his own voice seemed strange to Haruka. When had been the last time he talked for so long? Had he ever said so much in one go?

When he mentioned his summer job as a swimming instructor Haruka noticed that Rin's eyes flashed for a second. He looked like he was going to ask for more details, but oddly enough, he didn't. Haruka wondered why. He knew instinctively somehow, that this was a shaky topic for Rin. That he shouldn't press it. Yet, to his surprise he found himself asking, "Rin. Do you swim?"

And he noted how Rin hesitated for a long time before replying in a flat sort of voice, "No. No I don't."

 

\---

 

"So, how did it go?"

Rin dropped Sousuke's shirt into the laundry hamper next to the bed. Classes started tomorrow and he knew he shouldn't bother him again, but Sousuke made it so easy for him to vent out everything. He sank down and leaned against Sousuke's knee. Talking with Haruka had gone better than he had ever hoped for. He learned a lot of things about his roommate - how he wrinkled his brow whenever he got annoyed, how fun it was to annoy him, how he actually had a sense of humor once you urged him to talk more.

"He swims. He's really good at it apparently. Won a lot of prizes. Got scouted to join a professional swim club, but he refused. He wants to be a swimming instructor. You know, teach little kids."

Rin could feel Sousuke tense a little, but soon enough he leaned back and made room so Rin could sit more comfortably next to him.

"Warn me if you're going to cry. I like this shirt."

"I'm going to cry."

"Fuck, let me go get a towel."

"Just kidding, you asshole."

Rin had no idea how he felt about Haruka swimming. It had caught him by surprise. He should have expected it; although he was on the thin side, Haruka had a swimmer's physique and even if Rin hadn't noticed his body, the professional swimwear should have been a dead giveaway.

_"Rin. You should swim."_

Rin didn't understand what Haruka had meant by that. Did he guess that Rin was a swimmer, too? Rin was out of shape, but he knew it was obvious to anyone who looked at him that he had a swimmer's physique as well. Rin hadn't lied though. He had given up swimming two years ago.

_"Come swim with me next time."_

Maybe it was the fact that _Haruka_ wanted to spend time with him, or the way his blue eyes had locked onto Rin's - but Rin hadn't been able to say no. Rin closed his eyes. He could feel Sousuke's hand smoothing small circles into his back. He flinched when it brushed against a particular spot on his right shoulder - the scars were tiny and had healed well, but Rin knew exactly where they were. He didn't feel like crying. But he stayed silent, brooding over Haruka's words until it grew dark outside.


End file.
